East Rutherford, NJ (My Sportsbook) - The United States men's national soccer team failed in its quest for a third straight CONCACAF Gold Cup championship after falling to Mexico, 5-0, in the final in front of 79,156 mostly Mexican fans at Giants Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Giovani Dos Santos had a goal and three assists to earn the tournament MVP and lead El Tri to the regional championship over their fiercest North American rivals. It was the first time the U.S. has lost to Mexico on American soil since March 13, 1999, when Mexico won its third straight U.S. Cup title, handing former U.S. coach Bruce Arena his first loss, 2-1, in San Diego, Calif.

The game was actually tied 0-0 at halftime, but the Mexican squad exploded in the second half with five goals to humiliate the U.S.

"The second half for us is ... that's not what we are all about," U.S. coach Bob Bradley said. "It's important that we can look hard at ourselves and learn from a half like that and use it the right way."

The first shot on goal of the game was actually by the U.S. when Robbie Rogers ran onto a long ball and fired awkwardly toward Guillermo Ochoa, but the Mexican goalkeeper easily made the save and the game remained scoreless. It was the only save Ochoa had to make in the game.

Mexico finally opened the floodgates in the 55th minute when U.S. defender Jay Heaps pulled down Dos Santos in the penalty area. Referee Courtney Campbell called for a penalty kick and Mexican captain Gerardo Torrado buried the chance to make it 1-0.

"I did not think it was a penalty," Bradley said.

Less than eight minutes later, before the crowd stopped cheering the first goal, the Mexicans doubled their advantage when Dos Santos knocked home a rebound after a series of shots on U.S. goalkeeper Troy Perkins.

"The change was the goal. I hope we understand when a goal is scored things change in the game," Bradley said of giving up a quick second goal after holding Mexico without a shot on goal in the first half. "We didn't do well at that point in terms of our response, our ability to keep control while we push for the equalizer. We opened ourselves up. I said it earlier, these are talented players. You open yourself up, you start to give away balls in bad spots, you start to get caught where your all over the field and not solid enough in the back when you lose bad balls [and] good players make you pay, and that's what happened in the second half."

Carlos Vela, Jose Antonio Castro and Guillermo Franco added three goals over the final 20 minutes for the Mexican side to complete the dominating 5-0 effort.

The championship loss is the second straight for the U.S. national team after falling in the Confederations' Cup final to Brazil on June 28 in South Africa. The U.S. roster on Sunday was completely different, however. They fielded a young and inexperienced squad in the Gold Cup compared to going with the top team in South Africa.

"When you have to stand there, whether its Confederations' Cup in South Africa and it's Brazil, or it's in Giants Stadium and its the Gold Cup and its Mexico, when you finish second and you have to stand there - which is the right thing to do - and watch the other team get their medals and hold up the trophy, that's a feeling that as athletes, as competitors that you don't like. ... Today is their day, they can celebrate."